


Making It Work

by YumeArashi



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Despair, Gen, Graphic Description, Hurt/Comfort, POV First Person, Poverty, Starvation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-17
Updated: 2013-01-17
Packaged: 2017-11-25 20:22:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/642611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumeArashi/pseuds/YumeArashi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the war, one of the pilots goes missing. Another seeks him out, only to be disturbed by what he finds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Making It Work

The bar’s neon sign shines through the driving snow, a beacon of my last hope.  I’ve been searching for him for over a year now, and I’m on my last lead.  It’s not that he deliberately went into hiding; if he’d chosen to do so, I doubt if I would ever find him.

I wasn’t worried when the first letter went unanswered, or even the second.  When I tried calling, there was no answer; repeated tries back yielded the same result, until one day I got a recording that the number was out of service.  At first I just assumed he had forgotten to leave his new contact information, or that he was deliberately waiting until his life had settled before doing so.  It was a few months before I started to really worry, but even as I was planning a trip to check up on him in person, the call came out.

Sixteen months on assignment, with no more than a laptop and restricted ‘net access to aid in my search.  Had it not been an emergency, I would never have gone; after all, I wasn’t even an official Preventer, just another ex-soldier who did contract work for them.

For all those long months I exhausted every computer bank I could find, but it quickly became apparent that computers couldn’t help me this time.  Aside from being unhelpful, the results were cause for worry in and of themselves -- an expired driver’s license, an eviction-terminated lease, no steady job records.  Apparently his luck had been running low for some time. I knew his pride would never have let him admit it to us, and I realized why he’d stopped contacting us -- even a simple ‘how have you been?’ would have been a question he couldn’t answer.

He runs, he hides, but he never lies -- Duo Maxwell.

*****

I didn’t even bother going home after the assignment, I just booked a shuttle direct to the colonies.  Though I knew he was no longer there, I went first to the scrapyard, in the hopes of finding out when and where things had gone wrong.  Their neighbor, a nice elderly lady, invited me in and served me tea and cookies while she talked.

“Well, you know they were fairly quiet folk when it came to their own affairs.  But there were rumors about the business being in trouble as much as, oh, it would’ve been four years ago.”

I found it hard to swallow the bite of cookie I’d politely taken.  Four years?  And none of us had had any idea this whole time?  I thought back to some of our last conversations and remembered inquiries about the well-being of the business being deftly diverted in the way only he could have pulled off.  How bad must it have gotten before he felt he had to run? 

As if reading my mind, the neighbor finished a sip of tea and continued.  “It wasn’t until just over a year ago that things got bad, though.  We began hearing shouting coming from their yard, and not like the friendly bickering they were used to.”  Her face looked sad as she gazed into her cup.  “You could feel the anger, almost a tangible thing.  Then one night the girl, Hilde I think her name was, stormed out, shouting that she was not going to let her life be ruined because he couldn’t pull himself together.  I can remember it like it was yesterday.  ‘I’m not going to let some failure of a street rat drag me down’, she said.  He left not long afterwards, and that’s all I know.”

I closed my eyes, trying to keep back my anger.  Duo wasn’t nearly as trusting as some people thought -- to my knowledge, Hilde and I were the only people he’d ever told about his past.  I couldn’t begin to imagine the pain it must have caused him for her to use that knowledge against him. 

I opened my eyes and stood, thanking the woman for her information.  She patted my hand in a grandmotherly way, and wished me luck.

*****

I spent the next six months looking through physical records trying to find him.  It was disheartening, to say the least -- for all I knew, he wasn’t even still on this colony -- but whenever I got too discouraged, I’d get a lead or a rumor or a hunch, and I’d be off again.

Finally, in a tiny little welfare office in the poorest section of one of L2’s largest cities, I found something useful.  A record that he’d been receiving unemployment money, terminated two weeks ago.  I made inquiries of everyone I could get my hands on, trying not to think of how badly off my proud friend must have been to ask for welfare. 

It took me a week, but I finally found someone who knew where he lived.  His landlord was less than useful -- a greasy little rodent of a man who merely asserted that ‘if he’s in some sorta trouble, I dun’ know nuthin’’ before slamming the door in my face.  I understood then why there hadn’t been any records of residence for Duo; obviously the guy could care less who was living in his apartments, as long as he got a handful of cash on the first of every month. 

Fortunately, one of his neighbors was more talkative, and directed me to the bar.

So now I stand outside, half-afraid of what I’ll find inside.  But I’ve never let fear stop me, and I’m not about to start.  I take a deep breath, and walk in.

It’s identical to thousands of other seedy bars, you can find them wherever humanity has stepped foot -- sad, run-down places that offer a siren’s song of cheap alcohol for those desperate enough to try drowning their sorrows.  But I hardly notice this one, as my attention is focused on the man I’ve been hunting.

He’s always been slender, but now his thinness is painful, turning the delicate lines of his face into sharp angles.  His skin is drawn too tightly over the bones, giving him an almost hollow look.  The once-laughing violet eyes are dull and defeated, the braid a tangled mess.

My heart tightens as I watch him pull a few small coins from his pocket, knowing instinctively that it’s the last of his money.  He pushes it across to the bartender, murmuring that whatever it can buy him will be fine.  It probably can’t buy bottled water, but the bartender gives him a pitying look and a beer.

I make my way over to his side, not wanting to see what effect alcohol will have on his starved body.  He’s just raising the mug to his lips when I get to him, reaching out to lightly touch his wrist.

I have to rescue the mug as he drops it, but it’s well worth the look on his face.  Real joy lights the violet eyes, and for a moment he looks like the Duo I remember.

“Heero?  Goddamn, man, it’s been years since I saw you!  What the hell’re you doing in this shithole?”

I reply quietly, not wanting the entire bar to hear the conversation.  “Looking for you.”

It was the wrong answer, somehow, because something flickers in his eyes and then they’re closed, wary.  “Yeah?  Well, now you’ve found me.”

“I thought maybe we could go somewhere and talk.  Old times and all, you know?”  I keep my voice and face open, honest.  I don’t know if he still trusts me, and he’s on his guard now.

After a moment he relaxes a little.  “Okay, wanna get a booth?”

I check my watch  -- nearly one in the morning -- and shake my head.  “They’ll be closing soon.”

He looks thoughtful.  “There’s a park down the street...”

“They locked the gates at ten pm.”  I frown inwardly -- he should know that.

“Oh.  Well, a restaurant maybe?”

“You know of one that’s open now?”  Why is he suggesting places he knows are closed?  The only thing that’s going to be available at this hour would be either my hotel room or...aha, his apartment.  Fifty dollars says he doesn’t want me seeing his place.  Judging by his personal appearance, it’s probably worth getting a look -- I want to see just how bad things really are.

He hesitates.  “Well, I guess not.  You have a hotel room?”

I shake my head.  “I only just got here.”  Fortunately I don’t share his aversion to lying, and being able to control my heartrate and breathing makes me good at it.  “What about your place?”  Bingo.  He’s nervous now, I’ll have to be careful.

“My place?  Man, you don’t wanna see it.  Talk about a hole in the wall!”  He laughs, a falsely bright sound.

I shrug.  “That doesn’t bother me.  If you’ve got anyplace else you know of, that’s fine.”

I can see his mind racing as he simultaneously tries to come up with another suggestion, decide how bad his apartment is, and calculate how much of it he can sweep under the proverbial rug without me noticing.  “Well...okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn ya.”

If he planned to pretend that things aren’t as bad as they seem, the eviction notice taped to the door kind of ruins it.  He tears it down as soon as he sees it, muttering about stupid managers and their petty rules, but I get a look at the eviction date, and it’s tomorrow.  I don’t say anything, though; he was defensive enough just bringing me here, I don’t want to exacerbate the situation.

He wrestles the door open and leads me inside, warning me not to expect much.  Believe me, I don’t.

But even my expectations didn’t prepare me for what I see.  A single room, shabby, threadbare, and cold.  There isn’t any furniture -- likely it was sold to pay off various debts. A pile of ratty blankets lies in one corner; in another is what looks like a mass of overdue bills and collection notices.  The only other object in the room is a worn duffel bag which probably contains the sum of Duo’s worldly possessions.  Yellow light comes through the cracked windows; Duo is explaining to me in a tone of well-fabricated annoyance that the electricity has been shut off for repairs.

“And the furniture?”

“Ah, I’ve got some prospects on the other side of the colony, so I’m leaving town.  Most of my stuff’s already been sent ahead.”

I raise an eyebrow.  “I thought you never lied.”

Oh, now he’s angry.  “Look, man, I didn’t ask you to come here and butt your nose into my business.”

“Of course not.  I came because I was worried about you.”

“Well, there’s nothing worth worrying about, so just back off!”

“Is that what you think you are, nothing?”

“What I am is none of your fucking business!  I don’t want your goddamn charity, okay?”  He’s yelling now, tears of anger and pain shining in his eyes.  I hate to push him, but something tells me that he needs this.  Sometimes you have to break a badly-set bone before it can heal, and I’d rather see anger in his eyes then the defeated emptiness that was there before.

“I’m not offering you charity, I’m offering you another chance.”

His anger breaks then, dissolving into tears, and I step forward to catch him as he curls into a little ball of misery.  He’s crying so hard I can barely make out his words.

“Doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter how many chances I get, I’ll just keep fuckin’ ‘em up.  S’all I ever do.”

I stroke his hair, try to tell him that’s not true, but he just keeps talking, all the pain and self-hatred pouring out of his broken soul.  For a while I let him, murmuring soft words of reassurance and hope, meant more to soothe than to convince.

“Looks like I’m destined to be a street rat no matter what, huh?  A failed street rat, no less, how sad is that?”

I spend half a second cursing Hilde, hoping that wherever she is, she’s twice this unhappy.  But more important than resenting the past is helping the present, so I take his face in my hands and raise it to mine.  “Duo, listen to me.  You are not a street rat, and you are not a failure.  Not in the past, not now, and not ever.  You had some bad luck, everyone does.  Okay, the salvage yard didn’t work out, but if you look at the statistics, eight out of ten start-up businesses fail within the first year.  Now, I know you, Duo.  I know you did your damnedest to keep that place afloat, right?”  He nods vehemently.  “Then it wasn’t your fault.  Understood?”

He nods.  His tears are winding down now, and he’s resting quietly in my arms.  I can’t believe the unfairness, that he’s seen so much pain in twenty-one short years, and I find myself wishing that I could keep him from ever being hurt again. 

My thoughts are interrupted by his next words, so soft I almost missed them.  “Sometimes I think my luck has never been anything but bad.” 

I pull him close, gently stroking his back.  “Duo, I’ve never believed in luck, but even if yours had deserted you, I never will.  I was brought up to believe that you make your own luck.  If I have to, I’ll make yours, too.”

Skinny arms wrap around me in a fierce hug.  He clings to me silently for a moment, then I’m trying to decipher the words he’s mumbling into my shirt.

“You’ve changed.”

I blink.  Not what I expected, but then I’ve never been able to predict him.  “Aa.  I’m not a soldier anymore.”

“It’s been two years.”  I can’t tell if it’s meant to be a question, but at the reminder of my absence I wince.

“I’m sorry.  I was on special assignment with the Preventers, top secret.  The security was insane, no one was allowed contact with the outside world.  I hacked the system enough to get limited access to the internet, but I couldn’t find you.”

His smile is small but genuine.  “Yeah, I don’t think computers would have helped much.”

“I came straight here afterwards, I’ve been looking for you since.  I’m sorry.”

His arms tighten around me.  “Not your fault.  I’m the one who ran.  I didn’t want anyone to see...”  He’s getting upset again, and I shush him gently.  “I always hoped you’d come.  Stupid, I know, since I was trying to run from everyone.  But you were the only one who never broke my trust, so I kept hoping...”

I turn my head, feeling rare tears sting at my eyes.  I was the only one he’d trusted, and now I, too, had broken faith with him.  It’s hard to speak around the sudden tightening of my throat.  “I’m sorry, Duo, I’m so sorry.”

He raises a hand to my lips, stopping my self-recrimination.  “Heero, you didn’t betray that trust.  You came.  That’s all that matters.”  He turns my face back to him, and the trust and love I see shining in his eyes hurts me, it’s so bright.  I don’t deserve it. 

I hold him close for a minute, then stand, slinging his duffel over my shoulder and cradling him carefully in my arms.  He weighs next to nothing, and I promise myself I’ll get him back to health as quickly as is possible.  He lies calmly in my arms, still trusting, and looks up at me with a smile.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Aa.”

*****

He falls asleep on the ride to the hotel, which is both unsurprising and advantageous.  He’s had a long day, after all, and I’d really rather not have to explain why I already have a key for a room which I supposedly hadn’t gotten yet.

It’s a difficult trick to manage the door with my arms full of his sleeping form, but nothing the ex-'perfect soldier' can’t handle.  I set him down on the bed and he sprawls bonelessly, somehow graceful even now.  I take off his shoes and socks and pause.  He sleeps in his boxers, or he did last I knew.  After a moment’s hesitation, I decide to at least remove the shirt; it’s a little too small, and it can’t be comfortable.

He stirs on feeling my hands on his chest and I pull away.  Barely-open violet eyes blink sleepily at me, and he mumbles questioningly, something that might be my name.

“I’m undressing you for bed...”  I’m about to ask if it’s okay, but he beats me to it.

“Mm, ‘kay.”  And he’s back asleep.  Unbuttoning his shirt, I still find it hard to believe how much he trusts me.  Given his past, it’s amazing that he’d let anyone undress him, much less that he’d be able to sleep soundly through it.  I promise myself, not for the first time, that I’ll never betray that trust.

I pull his shirt off, and my breath hisses through my teeth at what I see.  Every single rib is starkly evident, his chest sunken, his stomach sickeningly concave, his arms dwindled to mere sticks.  I grit my teeth and carefully remove his pants as well, and the result is much the same; his knees grim knobs of bone in wasted legs, his hipbones showing even through the boxers.  I growl softly to myself.  This is going to change, preferably immediately.  For a moment I even contemplate waking him up to feed him, but one glance at his exhausted face quickly convinces me otherwise.  Settling into bed beside him, I tell myself that the morning will come soon enough.

He must feel my warmth, because no sooner have I pulled up the blanket than I find myself thoroughly clung to.  I put my arms around him, trying to convince myself that he’s still upset and needs the emotional reassurance.  It’s a hard line to buy, though, since he’s currently nuzzling my neck and making sleepy little contented sounds.  Well, there are certainly worse fates.  I put my arms around him and fall asleep, feeling better than I have in a very long time.

I’m not surprised when I wake up before him.  I gently disentangle myself and I’m about to walk over to my laptop when I notice his forlorn look at my loss.  I’m torn; it’s not that I don’t want to stay and snuggle with him, but I have arrangements to make.  The others are always anxious for news of my results, and I have to order breakfast and book us seats for the next shuttle back to Earth.  He curls into the warm spot that I left, and it gives me an idea.  I hand him the pillow I was using, and he immediately wraps himself around it, looking happier.  I nod, satisfied, and go to call Quatre.  I’ve just finished giving him the details of Duo’s condition when the subject of our conversation starts to wake.  Quatre promptly excuses himself, and I call downstairs to have some breakfast sent up.

I set the phone back in its cradle as Duo sits up, rubbing sleep-blurred eyes and stretching.  “G’morning.”

“Ohayo.  How’re you feeling?”

“Mmm...better.”  He looks better, too; some of the darkness beneath his eyes is gone, and his eyes are clearer and brighter than they were the day before.

“That’s good.  I’ve called for breakfast, it should be here in a moment.”

His stomach loudly cheers the concept, and he blushes brightly.  “Um, that’s great!  What’d you get?”

I have a rare fit of tact and overlook his digestive system’s commentary.  “Oatmeal with brown sugar, toast with jam, some fruit and juice to go with it.”

Duo pretends to pout.  “Aw, no eggs and bacon?”

I give him a mild glare.  “You’d make yourself sick.  You obviously haven’t been eating well, anything that rich would only hurt you.  Until you’re fully better, we’re keeping it simple.  And if I catch you wolfing it down, I’ll cut off your braid.  It’s not going to disappear mid-meal.”

He clutches at his braid and opens his mouth for an indignant reply when the food arrives.  I set the tray on the table next to the bed and hand him a pear.  “Here.  Breakfast in bed.”

He laughs, and it is only as my tension leaves me that I realize how anxious I still was.  Here’s the Duo I remember.  His hands shake a little at first, but as he eats they quickly steady.  He eats a little too quickly for my liking, but not so fast as to hurt himself, and that habit will fade once he accepts his newfound stability.  He’s strong, he’ll recover in record time.  Duo’s nothing if not a survivor, and I intend to make sure things go accordingly.

“Oh, I also had them send up plenty of extra shampoo and conditioner.  Once you’re done you can take a nice long shower, wash your hair, and waste all the hot water you like.”  I smile at him, and he laughs again. 

He’s pretty much finished the breakfast by then, but he pops a last grape in his mouth and gives me a thoughtful look.  I raise an eyebrow at him.  “Penny for your thoughts?”

He swallows the grape and hesitates a moment before answering.  “I like the new you.”  I don’t know what the expression on my face is, but it must be interesting, because he quickly continues, “Don’t get me wrong, I liked the old you too, but you seem happier now.”

“Aa, I am.  I don’t have to kill people.  I don’t have to follow orders.  My life is my own now.”

He smiles.  “I’m glad.  Some of us were kinda worried about what you’d do once the war ended.  You were so focused on the missions, so completely a solider, you know.  We weren’t sure you’d be able to adjust to a peacetime life.”

I walk into the bathroom to set the extra bottles in the tub, giving thought to my reply.  “I wasn’t always sure either.  I didn’t much like to think about it, really.  I didn’t think I’d live to see peace.”  I come back in the room with a brush and comb and sit on the bed next to Duo.  “Luckily I had people who cared about me, who convinced me that I was worth something as a person, as a friend, and not just as a soldier.  They showed me how to be myself, how to live.”  I reach out to brush a stray wisp of hair from his wide eyes.  “You weren’t least among them, you know.  You taught me more about how to live than anyone, and I never even thanked you for that...” 

Then his arms are around me, squeezing me so tightly I can’t speak further, and he’s shaking his head.  “Heero, don’t...don’t ever feel like you owe me anything.  You’ve done more for me than you’ll ever know.  Just...just that you’re here, means so much...”  Emotion silences him then, and I hold him gently.

“Aa, I’m here, and I’m not leaving you.  I promise I won’t ever leave you.” 

He relaxes after a moment, sighing softly and giving me a shaky smile.  “Definitely like the new you.”

I chuckle softly.  “Me too.”

He notices the brush I’m holding and looks at me, quirking an eyebrow.

“I thought you might like some help...”  I gesture towards his braid, my hand stopping short of it.  I don’t expect he’ll accept the offer; no one touches the braid but Duo.  Not Hilde, not I, no one.  During the war I once made the mistake of tugging on his braid.  The bruise lasted for a week.

He looks at the brush, then at me.  I’m ready to hand the brush to him when he surprises me by turning his back with a soft ‘thank you’.

I’m frozen for a moment, but then my fingers reach out to remove the tie holding his hair, a part of me thinking that I’d better take what will surely be a unique chance while I can.  The braid is an absolute disaster, but I take every care not to pull on even the smallest hair.  It takes me over an hour, but finally I’m pulling the brush smoothly through the fall of thick chestnut.  Duo has pulled his knees to his chest and folded his arms across them, and making a sound that could only have been described as a purr, resting his chin on his folded arms.  When I lean around to do the sides I can see that his eyes are more than half shut, and I make a mental note that if I ever want to put Duo to sleep, brushing his hair would be a good way to go.

It’s with regret that I finally set the brush down on the table and give Duo’s shoulder a gentle shake.  He comes awake with comical abruptness.

“Huh?  What?  I wasn’t asleep!” 

I can’t help but laugh at that.  “Of course not, Duo.”  The sleepy scowl he gives me is more amusing than intimidating.

“Well, what’d ya go and shake me for, huh?”

“I’m done with your hair.”

He blinks and reaches back to run a hand through it.  “Wow, you’re done?  I never felt a thing!”

I shrug.  “I was careful.  I figured if you hit me for tugging on the braid, you’d eviscerate me for pulling your hair while I brushed it.”

He laughs.  “Man, you’ve got just the sense of humor I always figured you would.”

I raise an eyebrow.  I tend to find myself doing that a lot when I’m around him.  “Was that a compliment or an insult?”

“Both.”  He gives me a quick grin which turns into a real smile.  “Seriously, though, thanks.  I wouldn’t have been nearly as gentle.”  He bounces off towards the bathroom.  “If you need the bathroom, go for it now, ‘cause I fully plan on being in the shower for at least an hour!”

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!”  The bathroom door closes and the shower starts up.  I turn to my laptop.  Time to book the flight back home.

*****

He indeed takes his time, and I’ve not only made the flight arrangements but have posted news of finding Duo to various anxious friends (though I’m sure Quatre has spread word by now) when I hear the bathroom door open.

He’s got one towel around his waist and another wrapping his hair, and but for his thinness it might be any one of a number of times I’ve seen him step out of the shower.  The familiarity twists at my heart, and I startle him by getting up and giving him a hug.

“Something wrong?”  He sounds worried.

“I’m fine.  I just missed you, is all.”  I rest my head on his shoulder.  His skin is warm from the shower, and I shiver suddenly.  He puts his arms around me and pulls me close.

“I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have upset you by running off.”  I start to protest but he shakes his head, asking me wordlessly to let him finish.  He draws back a little and looks at me, his eyes serious.  “Heero, I promise I won’t do that to you again.  I promise...”  He takes a deep breath.  It’s hard for him to say this and I want to stop him, tell him he doesn’t need to do this, but the look in his eyes keeps me silent.  “I promise that if I’m in trouble, I’ll talk to you or someone else, instead of just running.  I promise I’ll ask for help if I need it, and not let my pride hurt me and the people around me.”  He smiles at me, and I hold him tight, whispering thanks.  I’m shaking still, hardly aware of the words spilling from my lips, telling him how worried I’d been, how much I’d missed him, how afraid I’d been that I’d find him too late.  I try to stop, not wanting to increase the guilt he must be feeling right now, but he holds me and soothes me like I did for him last night, telling me that it’s all right, that he won’t leave me again, letting his words carry the pain and fear from my heart.

The storm finally leaves me, and I pull away from him, smiling a little.  He looks  worried, but the smile reassures him.  I start to apologize but he cuts me off.  “Do you feel better for it?”

I pause.  “Yes, I do.”

“Then don’t be sorry.  Sometime we all just need to let things go.” 

I nod and sit on the bed.  “I got us on a shuttle for Earth.  It leaves in a couple of hours, will that be enough time?”

He grins wryly.  “Heero, it could leave in five minutes and it’d be soon enough for me.”  I turn away as he gets dressed, then feel the bed settle as he joins me, toweling his still-damp hair.  “So what’s the plan?  I mean, don’t think I’m not grateful, because I am, but I meant it when I said I didn’t want charity.”

“And I meant it when I said I wasn’t offering it to you.  I thought you might be interested in the kind of job I have.”

He frowns.  “I remember you were with the Preventers in a vague sort of not-really way, but...”

“I do contract work for them.  I hack computer systems, review mission plans, advise infiltration teams, design security systems, occasionally train a new batch of Preventers, stuff like that.  I keep my own hours, I mostly work from home, and they pay me a lot.  You’d love it.”

He chuckles a little, but I can see he’s anxious.  “You think I can do all that?”

I’m tempted to roll my eyes, but I remind myself he doesn’t need that.  It’s only natural that he’s doubting his abilities.  “Your skills were nearly as good as mine were.  Even if you’re a little rusty or you come across something you’re not familiar with, I’ll be there to help you past it.  You’ll do fine.”

He hesitates a little.  He wants to believe, but he’s still nervous.  “Where would I stay?  I don’t wanna impose on anyone.”

“Actually, I’ve been looking for a roommate for a while now.  I rented a two-bedroom apartment because that’s what was available in the complex I wanted, but it’s a little big for just me, and I don’t have company often enough to make it useful.  Once you’re back on your feet you can start paying me rent.” 

“What if...what if things don’t...work out?”  He’s still a little uncertain, a little afraid, so I put my arms around him.

“We’re going to make this work, Duo.  I’m not going to let you down, I promise.  If you fall, I’ll catch you, always.  You’re going to be fine.”

He smiles up at me, and for the first time, his eyes tell me he believes. 


End file.
